Link tasks in a project

You can link any two tasks in a project to show their relationship (also called a task dependency). Dependencies drive the project schedule — once you link the tasks, every change you make to the predecessor affects the successor, which affects the next one, and so on.

Click View > Gantt Chart.

Hold down Ctrl and click the two tasks you want to link (in the Task Name column).

Click Task > Link Tasks.

To remove a link, select the two linked tasks and then click Task > Unlink Tasks.

Project creates a simple finish-to-start task link by default, which means the first task (the predecessor) needs to finish before the second task (the successor) can start.

More ways to link tasks

Insert a task between linked tasks

With Project 2013, you can autolink tasks — insert a new task between linked tasks, and have the new task automatically link to the surrounding tasks. But to use this feature, you first need to turn it on:

Click File > Options.

In the Project Options dialog box, click Schedule and scroll to the Scheduling options in this project section.